Mentally Naked – Catherine Eccles

Between February and August this year, I listened to all Andrew Weatherall’s Music’s Not For Everyone shows broadcast on NTS Radio between 2014 and 2020.  Seventy-three shows, from which emerged five playlists and thirty hours of music.  My self-appointed task, originally embarked upon as an expression of grief, was done.  But then I found it … Continued

The Joy of Discovery – Catherine Eccles

“A clock spends its life marking time, but does it understand mortality?” goes the Chain and The Gang lyric, “Music’s not for everyone, keep it away from them”.  It’s the first track Andrew Weatherall played on his eponymous Music’s Not for Everyone NTS shows that ran monthly for nearly six years, and the last on … Continued

Boulders – Catherine Eccles

2016 has been a difficult year, of course it has.  It’s as though my radar has been scrambled.  This has got me wondering what I’m up to, deep down in the rabbit hole of Andrew Weatherall’s Music’s Not For Everyone.  I feel like I have tunnelled to the centre of the earth and can’t turn … Continued

When is a Routine Not a Routine? – Catherine Eccles

When it’s a ritual.   Enter the Temple of Gnostic Sonics, a sanctuary of sound from the Music’s Not For Everyone shows of 2017.  Shows that begin with Andrew Weatherall’s ritualistic bidding to don your ceremonial gowns and headwear, huddle around your devices, sisters and brothers (always sisters first), gnostic explorers and fellow lovers of … Continued

Unknown Unknowns – Catherine Eccles

Last week, Catherine Eccles talked us through her archival journey piecing tracks from Andrew Weatherall’s peerless NTS shows into playlists. The second playlist is a five and a half hour deep dive through Andrew’s 2018 shows. It’s proof that while music may not be for everyone, it’s certainly working its magic for some of us at … Continued

The Temple of Gnostic Sonics – Catherine Eccles

It’s impossible to know how you’re going to react when someone dies.  In early February, my good friend Lee Brackstone sent me the January 30th episode of Andrew Weatherall’s Music is Not for Everyone, to which my response was, “He’s a genius.  John Peel of our times”.  Ten days later the devastating news came through Andrew … Continued

116 Things That Got Us Through Lockdown – A Collaborative List

Hate to say it, but Joe fucking bloody bastarding Wicks   The Red Book by Jung: always The Terror Luke Unabomber’s occasional Worldwide FM extravaganzas Supporting English products which have survived other pandemics. William Whiteley has been making scissors in Sheffield since the 18th century and is still making scissors in Sheffield. Never mind the … Continued

Before We Move On…

It is traditional between Christmas and New Year for The Social (the real one on Little Portland St) to shut its doors after closing time on the Dec 23. By that point only Graeme, Simon and a few of the staunchest West End drinkers would remain in the Upstairs Bar after weeks of madness. The … Continued

Solace – C M Taylor

Having been sober for almost five years – sober through the death of my Mum and the grief of my Dad, through the brutal, public murder of a friend; sober through the Bre and the Cov words, through Johnson and Trump and the death of shame; sober through raising daughters, honouring a marriage, earning my … Continued

Sweet Dreams: An Extract – Dylan Jones

Preface: Plato’s Cave  ‘Obviously I’m into myself, but I’m not walking around just saying, “Oh, everybody look at me.” I wear make-up and dress this way because it makes me look better. I’m not doing it to get people to stare at me. If I wanted to do that, I could just put a pot … Continued

Solidarity with Crossing Border – Lee Brackstone

Dig if you will the picture. It’s 3.20am and about 200 of the most forward-thinking, risk-embracing, party-loving publishers in Europe (and a smattering of bemused Americans) are dancing to Tim Burgess of The Charlatans who is dj-ing at the infamous Saturday night after-party at a certain festival in The Hague. They are joined by a … Continued